“A troubled and afflicted mankind looks to us, pleading for us to keep our rendezvous with destiny; that we will uphold the principles of self-reliance, self-discipline, morality, and, above all, responsible liberty for every individual that we will become that shining city on a hill.” — Ronald Wilson Reagan

The Obama administration is blaming Israel for the recent rise in global crude oil prices, according to a Sunday report in The World Tribune. The rise in fuel prices is deemed as harming the U.S. economy and has also hurt Obama in the polls as he seeks re-election in November.

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ERBIL, Iraq, July 11 (UPI) — Iranian forces are stationed about a 1 1/2 miles inside the Iraq border as part of an operation targeting Kurdish militants, a border official said.

A source inside the border patrol in the northern Kurdish provinces of Iraq said Iranian forces crossed the border during the weekend in pursuit of members of the Party for Free Life in Kurdistan, or PJAK.

“The Iranian force is still stationed at the same positions it penetrated into on Sunday, following clashes between both sides,” the source told the Voices of Iraqi news agency.

Stationing troops inside another nation’s borders without permission is generally referred to as an “invasion.”

But did you hear about it on the evening news? If the websites are any indication, no, you didn’t.

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TEHRAN, Iran—Iran’s state TV says the country has launched its first cyber police unit in the latest attempt by authorities to gain an edge in the digital world.

The Internet has been a key outlet for Iran’s political opposition since the disputed presidential election in 2009. Iran also has been trying to boost its web defenses after the Stuxnet computer worm made its way into computers involved with its nuclear program.

Any bets on whether or not the only thing allowed on the Iranian internet will be state-approved propaganda?

AS the founder of Human Rights Watch, its active chairman for 20 years and now founding chairman emeritus, I must do something that I never anticipated: I must publicly join the group’s critics. Human Rights Watch had as its original mission to pry open closed societies, advocate basic freedoms and support dissenters. But recently it has been issuing reports on the Israeli-Arab conflict that are helping those who wish to turn Israel into a pariah state.

At Human Rights Watch, we always recognized that open, democratic societies have faults and commit abuses. But we saw that they have the ability to correct them — through vigorous public debate, an adversarial press and many other mechanisms that encourage reform.

That is why we sought to draw a sharp line between the democratic and nondemocratic worlds, in an effort to create clarity in human rights. We wanted to prevent the Soviet Union and its followers from playing a moral equivalence game with the West and to encourage liberalization by drawing attention to dissidents like Andrei Sakharov, Natan Sharansky and those in the Soviet gulag — and the millions in China’s laogai, or labor camps.

When I stepped aside in 1998, Human Rights Watch was active in 70 countries, most of them closed societies. Now the organization, with increasing frequency, casts aside its important distinction between open and closed societies.

[snip]

Human Rights Watch has lost critical perspective on a conflict in which Israel has been repeatedly attacked by Hamas and Hezbollah, organizations that go after Israeli citizens and use their own people as human shields. These groups are supported by the government of Iran, which has openly declared its intention not just to destroy Israel but to murder Jews everywhere. This incitement to genocide is a violation of the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide.

Leaders of Human Rights Watch know that Hamas and Hezbollah chose to wage war from densely populated areas, deliberately transforming neighborhoods into battlefields. They know that more and better arms are flowing into both Gaza and Lebanon and are poised to strike again. And they know that this militancy continues to deprive Palestinians of any chance for the peaceful and productive life they deserve. Yet Israel, the repeated victim of aggression, faces the brunt of Human Rights Watch’s criticism.

It’s a shame that Bernstein stepped down from leading HRW in 1998, otherwise they might not be having the problems he writes about.

Kudos to Mr. Bernstein for his intestinal fortitude, and kudos to the New York Times for printing it.

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First Russia’s Foreign Minister, now the man-behind-the-throne Putin himself, are indicating that Obama’s capitulation on missile defense hasn’t done a thing to bring Russia closer to a strong stance on Iran… if anything, Obama’s weakness is making Russia feel it’s okay to move away from a strong stance:

BEIJING (Reuters) – Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin warned major powers on Wednesday against intimidating Iran and said talk of sanctions against the Islamic Republic over its nuclear programme was “premature”.

Putin, who many diplomats, analysts, and Russian citizens believe is still Russia’s paramount leader despite stepping down as president last year, was speaking after U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton visited Moscow for two days of talks.

“There is no need to frighten the Iranians,” Putin told reporters in Beijing after a meeting of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation.

“We need to look for a compromise. If a compromise is not found, and the discussions end in a fiasco, then we will see.”

“And if now, before making any steps (towards holding talks) we start announcing some sanctions, then we won’t be creating favourable conditions for them (talks) to end positively. This is why it is premature to talk about this now.”

Clinton failed to secure any specific assurances from Russia on Iran during her visit, leaving her open to criticism at home that she had not received anything from Moscow after earlier U.S. concessions on missile defence.

Earth to President Obama! International diplomacy isn’t Christmas gift-giving. Giving the Russians what they want doesn’t necessarily mean they are going to give us what we want.

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MOSCOW — Denting President Obama’s hopes for a powerful ally in his campaign to press Iran on its nuclear program, Russia’s foreign minister said Tuesday that threatening Tehran now with harsh new sanctions would be “counterproductive.”

The minister, Sergey V. Lavrov, said after meeting with Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton here that diplomacy should be given a chance to work, particularly after a meeting in Geneva earlier this month in which the Iranian government said it would allow United Nations inspectors to visit its clandestine nuclear enrichment facility near the holy city of Qum.

“At the current stage, all forces should be thrown at supporting the negotiating process,” he said. “Threats, sanctions and threats of pressure in the current situation, we are convinced, would be counterproductive.”

But, but, but… wasn’t stopping Iran supposed to be a quid pro quo for Obama canceling missile defense plans for eastern Europe? Indeed it was, at least that’s what we were told.

In short, Obama got rolled by Russia. He should have learned from the greatest of modern presidents, Ronald Reagan: “Trust, but verify.”

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I thought I hadn’t awakened from my sleep and was still dreaming when I heard that our most highly esteemed potentate and savior of the world, President Barack Hussein Obama, had won the Nobel Peace Prize [Article – Obama says he’ll accept Nobel as ‘call to action’].

President Obama was gracious in his acceptance speech. He had the same feeling of shock and surprise that millions upon millions of people experienced when it was announced that he had won the Nobel Peace Prize. He acknowledged that he was not deserving of the prize and didn’t view the award “as a recognition of my own accomplishments,” but rather as a recognition of goals he has set for the U.S. and the world. Mr. Obama said, “I do not feel that I deserve to be in the company of so many transformative figures that have been honored by this prize.” But, he said, “I will accept this award as a call to action, a call for all nations to confront the challenges of the 21st century.”

What accomplishments? Community organizing? Being a state senator? Performing the duties of a U.S. Senator for the sum total of two years? Talking about hope and change? By transformative figures, I am guessing that President Obama is excluding the late bloodthirsty terrorist Yasser Arafat. It should give us all a warm fuzzy that Obama is accepting the award as a “call to action”. You mean like giving the barbaric Taliban in Afghanistan a role in the government there [Article – Obama Focusing on al Qaeda, not Taliban]? Read More…